What Is Cardiac Arrest
Cardiac arrest is a heart condition where your heart stops beating. When this happens, your essential organs are no longer receiving oxygen-filled blood, putting your life in imminent danger.
Some people use the terms cardiac arrest, heart attack, and heart failure interchangeably. But each of these conditions is slightly different, although they can be related to each other.
Q Do All Heart Attacks Have The Same Symptoms
Smoking Cigarettes And Vaping Are Major Risk Factors For A Heart Attack
Of all the things that contribute to heart attacks in young adults, smoking cigarettes is one of the top risk factors. Your risk of a heart attack increases in direct proportion to the number of cigarettes you smoke. Smoking one pack a day more than doubles your risk for a heart attack compared with nonsmokers.
While cigarette smoking has a much higher chance of causing a heart attack compared with vaping, youre still not off the hook if you vape. E-cigarettes contain nicotine and other toxic compounds that accelerate your heart rate and raise your blood pressure. A recent study found that vaping made you 34% more likely to have a heart attack compared with non-vapers.
Also Check: Do Heart Attack Symptoms Last For Days
What Should I Do If I Have Symptoms Of Heart Attack
If you think you may be having a heart attack, get treatment right away. Follow these steps:
- Dial 911 Do not have someone else drive you to the hospital. Do not try to drive yourself. EMTs will give you life-saving treatment in the ambulance on the way to the hospital.
- After calling for help, take 1 uncoated adult aspirin or 4 uncoated baby aspirins . Dont take this if youre allergic to aspirin.
- If you are alone and are able, unlock your door to let emergency personnel enter your home.
- Sit in a comfortable chair and wait for help.
- Keep a phone near you.
How Is A Heart Attack Diagnosed And Treated
Medical staff will carry out tests to find out if you have had a heart attack. These include blood tests to measure the amount of certain proteins in your blood, and an ECG to show the amount of damage to your heart muscle and where the damage is.
These tests should be carried out as soon as possible so you can receive the right sort of treatment for your circumstances. Early treatment of a heart attack is important to get the blood flowing to the affected part of the heart again and limit the amount of damage to your heart muscle.
The main types of treatment include:
- Primary angioplasty the narrowed areas of the artery are stretched using a balloon and a stent is fitted to keep the artery open
- Thrombolysis clot-busting medicine helps to dissolve any blood clots which are blocking your arteries
- Thrombectomy a surgery where a clot or blockage in your artery is removed
Also Check: How To Lower Your Resting Heart Rate
Heart Attack: What It Is And Why Does It Happen
January 22, 2018 | BY BIOTRICITY
Every 40 seconds, someone in the United States has a heart attack. Over the course of a year, approximately 790,000 Americans have a heart attack, and of these cases 580,000 are a first heart attack and 210,000 are subsequent events. Coronary artery disease is the main cause of heart attack, and the most common type of heart disease. The disease manifests when the arteries that supply blood to the heart muscle become hardened and narrowed, which can subsequently cause heart attacks, chest pains, or strokes.
So, what is a heart attack?
A heart attack occurs when the blood flow that brings oxygen to the heart muscle is severely reduced or cut off completely. This is a serious medical emergency because your heart needs oxygen to survive, and you need your heart to survive. The process leading up to a heart attack goes like this:
What are heart attack risk factors?
Heart attack risk factors are made up of the usual culprits: unhealthy diet, inactivity, smoking, and stress. There are, however, some risk factors that you cant change. These are:
Prevention of heart attacks and cardiovascular disease can never start too early. It is important to know all of your risk factors so that you can work closely with your doctor to address them and work towards prevention.
Recovery & Prevention
Managing Heart Attack Risk Factors
Here are ways to manage your risks for a heart attack:
- Look at which risk factors apply to you, then take steps to eliminate or reduce them.
- Learn about high blood pressure and high cholesterol levels. These may be “silent killers.”
- Change risk factors that aren’t inherited by making lifestyle changes. Talk with your healthcare provider to find out how to do so.
- Talk with your healthcare provider to find out if you have risk factors that can’t be changed. These can be managed with medicine and lifestyle changes.
Also Check: What Is Congenital Heart Disease
How Can I Reduce My Risk Of Having A Heart Attack
Although there are several risk factors that you cant control, there are many ways you can help yourself and reduce your risk of a heart attack. These include:
- Schedule a checkup: Find a primary care provider and see them at least once a year for a checkup or wellness visit. An annual checkup can catch many of the early warning signs of heart disease, including signs that you can’t feel. These include your blood pressure, blood sugar levels, cholesterol levels and more.
- Quit tobacco products: This includes smokeless tobacco and all vaping products.
- Exercise regularly: Aim for 20 to 30 minutes of moderately intense physical activity a week.
- Eat a healthy diet: Examples include the Mediterranean or Dash diets. A plant-based diet approach is an excellent alternative.
- Maintain a healthy weight: Your primary care provider can advise you on a healthy goal weight and provide you resources and guidance to help you reach that goal.
- Manage your existing health conditions: This includes high cholesterol levels, high blood pressure and diabetes.
- Reduce your stress: Consider techniques such as yoga, deep breathing and meditation.
- Take your medications: Dont just take medications when you remember to or when you have a doctors appointment coming up.
- Keep all your medical appointments: Seeing your healthcare providers regularly can help uncover heart-related issues or other medical problems you didn’t know you had. This can also help treat problems sooner rather than later.
Lack Of Oxygen In The Blood
If levels of oxygen in the blood decrease due to carbon monoxide poisoning or a loss of normal lung function, the heart will receive un-oxygenated blood.
This will result in the heart muscles being damaged, triggering a heart attack.
Page last reviewed: 28 November 2019 Next review due: 28 November 2022
Don’t Miss: What Causes Heart Attack And Stroke
Sabse Jyadaheart Attack Bathroom Mein Qyu Aate Hai
| heart attack |
Heart Attackand Cardiac arrest aaj ke time mein ek badi samsya ban chuka hai. Is gambhir bimarike chapet mein aane se log maut ka shikar ho jata hai.
Apne daikhahoga ke adhikter Heart Attack bathroommein hi aate hai. Jin logo ko pahle se heart se judi samasya hoti hai. Unkobathroom mein heart attack aane ka risk sabse jyada hota hai.
Why Do People Often Get Heart Attacks In Bathrooms
A heart attack might occur due to several reasons. It is such a dangerous life-threatening ailment that can occur at any time. Experts say that there is a Bathroom factor which has to be taken care of. It has been noted that there are several cases of having a heart attack or brain attack while being in the bathroom.
One of the UITM professors has answered this saying, The way we take bath like having a shower which suddenly forces water on our head is a wrong way of bathing. This process will not allow the internal temperatures of the human body to get adjusted.
As a flow of water suddenly falls on your head, the blood immediately rushes towards head from all parts of the body. This sudden flow if gets obstructed due to any hurdle like fat deposits in blood vessels would lead to heart attack. This might make a person paralyzed either partially or completely.
He adds, Instead of that, it is always better to bath by making your feet wet and then legs and so on to the top, which enables the body temperature to remain balanced. This is better advice for those who suffer from high blood pressure, high levels of bad cholesterol and migraine says the professor.
Recommended Reading: How To Stop Heart Palpitations
How Can You Lower Your Heart Rate
How to lower your resting heart rate Get moving. Exercise is the number one way to lower resting heart rate, says Dr. Singh. Manage stress. Anxiety and stress can elevate the heart rate, too. Avoid caffeine and nicotine. Maintain a healthy weight. Stay hydrated. Sleep well.
How Is A Heart Attack Treated
Quick treatment to get the blood flowing to your heart muscle again is important. This can reduce the amount of permanent damage to your heart and save your life.
Many people need to have emergency treatment to restore the blood flow:
- Coronary angioplasty re-opens the blocked coronary artery by inserting one or more stents. This helps keep the narrowed artery open.
- Thrombolysis involves giving you clot-busting medicine to dissolve the blood clot thats blocking the coronary artery.
- Coronary bypass surgery helps to restore normal blood flow by using a blood vessel from your leg, arm or chest in your heart to bypass the blocked artery.
You might not have these treatments if your doctor decides its not safe or necessary.
You May Like: How Does Alcohol Affect The Heart Rate
Why Does A Heart Attack Happen
Heart attack is a scary topic. Why does a heart attack happen? The truth is, the likelihood of getting a heart attack is much less than you think it is.
But heart attack still happens due to cholesterol level and blood sugar level. One of the more common reasons that people suffer a heart attack is high blood pressure. Blood pressure is controlled by the bodys heart and valves, which play a role in blood flow.
High blood pressure can cause blood to pool in the arteries, and this then puts stress on the heart and valves, causing them to work harder than normal. This can lead to a heart attack.
The good news is that the problem can be prevented with a few simple tips and tricks.
The Wrong Sequence Of Bath
While bathing or showering, do not wet the head and hair first. This is the wrong sequence. writes a professor at UiTM National Sports Board.
Sequenced bathing is essential to avoid such incidences. Start with wetting your legs and up to your head gently. Know further about sequenced bathing in detail.
Also Check: Activation Of Which Kind Of Receptor Causes Heart Rate To Increase
Smi: Unaware Of Possible Danger
The number of people who suffer an SMI and don’t realize it is alarming. A study in the Nov. 10, 2015, Journal of the American Medical Association looked at almost 2,000 people ages 45 to 84 who were free of cardiovascular disease.
After 10 years, 8% had myocardial scars, which are evidence of a heart attack. Most surprising was that 80% of these people were unaware of their condition. Overall, the prevalence of myocardial scars was five times higher in men than in women.
SMI and regular heart attacks share the same risk factors: smoking, being overweight, lack of exercise, high blood pressure, high cholesterol levels, and diabetes. They can be just as dangerous, too. “SMI often leaves scarring and damage to the heart, which, combined with the fact that many people who have an SMI don’t seek immediate care, can further raise a person’s risk of a second and potentially more harmful heart attack,” says Dr. Plutzky. In fact, people who have an SMI and don’t get treatment have a three times greater risk of dying from coronary artery disease. “A silent heart attack is a loud signal your body sends that you have some kind of underlying health issue that needs attention,” says Dr. Plutzky.
How Do Heart Attacks Occur
When an artery that supplies blood to the heart becomesobstructed by a clot, that area of the heart becomes damaged. Ifthe blood supply is not restored quick enough, the heart can bepermanently damaged. If the artery that gets clogged is a majorartery, then the heart can fail and death can occur.
Another type of heart attack is cardiac arrest. This is wherethe electrical impulses that tell the heart when to beat and whento rest becomes erratic. The confusion in electrical impulsesconfuses the heart and it beats in an erratic rate. Not pumpingeffectively any longer, the blood pressure drops and the personbecomes unconscious. If the proper rhythm can not be reestablishedquickly, death will occur.
Recommended Reading: Is 140 Heart Rate Bad
What Is A Cardiac Rehabilitation Program
Before you leave the hospital, your doctor may talk to you about a cardiac rehabilitation program. These programs provide information that will help you understand your risk factors. It will help you live a healthy lifestyle that can prevent future heart problems. You will learn about exercise and diet, and how to reach and maintain a healthy weight. You will also learn ways to control your stress level, your blood pressure, and your cholesterol levels.
Your cardiac rehabilitation program will probably start while you are still in the hospital. After you leave the hospital, your rehabilitation will continue in a rehab center. The rehab center may be at the hospital or in another location.
Most cardiac rehabilitation programs last 3 to 6 months. Your doctor will talk to you about how often you need to attend the program. Once you enroll in a cardiac rehabilitation program, regular attendance is important. The more lifestyle changes you make, the better your chances of preventing future heart problems.
The sooner you get medical help, the greater your chances of surviving a heart attack. Do not delay getting immediate medical attention if you are experiencing symptoms of heart attack.
Q How Is Smoking Related To A Heart Attack
- Lack of oxygen supply to the heart
- Increased blood pressure and heart rate.
- Clotting of blood.
- Damage to cells that line coronary arteries and other blood vessels.
Read Also: Explain How Hypertension, Heart Disease, And Stroke Are Related.
Q What Are The 4 Silent Signs Of A Heart Attack
- Most heart attacks actually involve only mild pain or discomfort in the centre of your chest. You may also feel pressure, squeezing, or fullness.
- A heart attack doesnt just affect your heart. It is not about pain in chest area alone. Look out for pain or discomfort in your arms, back, neck, jaw, or stomach.
- If you face difficulty breathing and feel dizziness easily by just doing simple physical activity like climbing stairs, you need to look out for your heart.
- Waking up in a cold sweat, feeling nauseated, and vomiting are signs of a silent heart attack.
Stroke Or Heart Attack Or Cardiac Arrest In The Toilet
There are many instances of death occurring in the toilet due to cardiac arrest. A sudden drop in blood pressure due to toilet strain or inappropriate sitting posture is observed.
Several studies have linked this drop to more pressure on the parasympathetic nervous system as well. Let us look into details.
Recommended Reading: How Blood Pumps Through The Heart
What Happens During A Heart Attack
When a heart attack happens, blood flow to a part of your heart stops or is far below normal, which causes that part of your heart muscle to die. When a part of your heart cant pump because its dying from lack of blood flow, it can disrupt the pumping sequence for the entire heart. That reduces or even stops blood flow to the rest of your body, which can be deadly if it isnt corrected quickly.
Can You Have Another Heart Attack
After having a heart attack, you are at risk of having another one. Many people do not recognise their next heart attack, as it may feel different to the first one.
If you think you may be having a heart attack and you have already had one:
- Stop and rest. Tell someone how you feel
- If you take angina medication and the symptoms have not been relieved within 10 minutes, or if the symptoms are severe or getting worse,
- Dial 111 and ask for an ambulance. If instructed and aspirin is available, take one.
Don’t Miss: Congestive Heart Failure Occurs When